Quilts Theme for Preschool

Quilts Theme Art Activities

Felt Square Quilt

Materials Needed: felt squares in a variety of colors, craft glue, miscellaneous arts and crafts supplies (sequins, yarn, stickers, etc.)

The children each choose a color and decorate the square.  Be sure to add their name.

Display as described in the above activity.

Scrapbooking

Materials needed:  Any scrapbooking materials or supplies you and/or your families have at home; glue; construction paper; one picture of each child.

The children place their picture on the paper color of their choice (use tape, glue might make the ink bleed if you printed from your computer).

They use the supplies to decorate this page about them using stickers and other supplies.

Hang them as a quilt in your classroom.

Return to Top

Quilts Theme Block Center Ideas

Quilt Patterns

Add bristle blocks to the block area for the children to build patterns with for their cars, animals, etc.

Return to Top

Quilts Theme Circle Time Ideas

Circle Time is such a great time for children to learn the social skills of being together as a large group AND to learn more about your quilts theme!

Lullabies

What a great theme to sing lullabies!  Many of our children do not know the classic lullabies!

Here are a few to get you started:

Hush Little Baby  This is a great one to use props with!

Hush, little baby, don't say a word.

Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird

And if that mockingbird won't sing,

Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring

And if that diamond ring turns brass,

Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass

And if that looking glass gets broke,

Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat

And if that billy goat won't pull,

Papa's gonna buy you a cart and bull

And if that cart and bull turn over,

Papa's gonna buy you a dog named Rover

And if that dog named Rover won't bark

Papa's gonna buy you a horse and cart

And if that horse and cart fall down,

You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.

Brahms's Lullaby (Lullaby and Goodnight)

Lullaby and goodnight, with roses benight

With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed

Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed

Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed

Lullaby and goodnight, thy mother's delight

Bright angels beside my darling abide

They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast

They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast

Rock-a-Bye Baby

(I have taken license to change the word "come" to "float" as I had a preschooler once who was worried that his bed would break and fall through the floor!)

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall

And down will float baby, cradle and all

Toora, Loora, Loora

Toora, loora, loora

Toora, loora, li

Toora, loora, loora

Hush, now, don't you cry

Toora, loora, loora

Toora, loora, li

Toora, loora, loora

It's an Irish lullaby

Over in Killarney, many years ago

My mother sang this song to me in tones so sweet and low

Just a simple little ditty in her good old Irish way

And I'd give the world if she could sing that song to me this day

Toora, loora, loora

Toora, loora, li

Toora, loora, loora

Hush, now, don't you cry

Toora, loora, loora

Toora, loora, li

Toora, loora, loora

It's an Irish lullaby

Return to Top

Snack Ideas to Cook Up for Your Quilts Theme!

Cooking with children helps develop their math skills and helps them to learn how to follow directions. It also allows for some great conversation! Ask many questions while cooking with your children to encourage conversation! Be sure to ask specific themed questions while making these fun snacks!

Quilts Theme Graham Cracker Quilt Square

Materials needed: graham crackers, spread (cream cheese, frosting, etc.) and food items to decorate with (fruit, sprinkles)

Quilts Theme Toast Quilts

Materials needed:  bread, toaster, jelly/jam (or butter or cream cheese); fruit

Have the children help you to wash and cut the fruit (blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, banana)

They decorate their toast by making a pattern on it with the fruit.

Return to Top

Quilts Theme Ideas to Transform Your Dramatic Play Area

House Area Quilts Theme

Add babies and blankets and quilts to your house area and show the children how to wrap or swaddle babies in blankets to keep them warm.

Return to Top

Quilts Theme Ideas for Your Easel--

More Than Just Painting (Although that is always THE favorite in our classroom!)

Triangles and Squares

Encourage the children to makes these shapes all over or within their paintings.

Return to Top

Quilts Theme Large Group Games

that help build their muscles while they have fun together

Quick.........then slow

Make a letter Q on a paper and the letter S on the opposite side.

Talk with the children about "speed":  that it means how fast (or conversely how slow) something is going.

What word do you think this letter Q could mean?  (quick)

What about this letter?  Yes, it is an S.  (slow)

Tell them you will pick a movement.  They will need to do that movement QUICKLY when you hold up the Q and then SLOWLY when you are showing the S.

Some suggestions:  hopping on two feet; on one foot; skipping; walking; running; turning around; squatting, etc.

VARIATION:  You choose the first movement.  Then let each child take a turn choosing a movement and, perhaps, holding the Q/S card!

Return to Top

Quilts Theme Ideas for Your Library Area

Literacy Ideas for your Quilts Theme

Quilted Books??

Yes!  You will find many cloth books either at your library or from parents that they can lend you.  Be sure to wash them before and after use.

Flannel Board Fun

Add a flannel board and many colored felt squares (multiples of each color).  Encourage the children to make their own quilt pattern using them.

More Flannel Board Fun

Attach dryer sheets or velcro to the backs of wallpaper sample squares (you may be able to get these donated to you from stores that sell it from their discontinued books).

The children make their own quilt designs on the flannel board.

Book Suggestions for your Quilts Theme for the Library

(I LOVE Amazon, and some of the links below will take you to the Amazon website.  If you do choose to purchase yours through Amazon, they do send me a few cents--which supports my coffee habit! )

Elmer by David McKee

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

Luka's Quilt Georgia Guback

Kiki's Blankie by Janie Bynum

Mooshka, A Quilt Story by Julie Paschkis

Oma's Quilt by Paulette Bourgeois and Stephane Jorisch

The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy

The Quilt by Ann Jonas

Quilt Alphabet by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Quilt Counting by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Return to Top

Quilt Theme Activities to Help Your Preschoolers Develop Their Math Skills AND Their Fine Motor Skills!

Quilts have so many patterns.  This is a great theme to pull out all your activities that involve patterns!

Bead Lacing

Pull out your large, wooden lacing beads for the children to lace patterns with.

Shape Lacing

Purchase (or make your own!) Shape cards for the children to lace.

Felt Matching

In advance, cut small shapes out of felt (parent help is great for this!).

Place large squares of the different colors of felt on the table.

Place bowls with the different colored mini shapes.  

The children can sort by placing the mini shapes on the correct color.

EXTENSION:  Cut the large pieces of felt into large shapes.  The children can now sort the mini shapes by color onto the correct large shape of the same color!

Table Games for a Quilts Theme

Add some patterning type games to your math center this week such as:

Connect 4 Game

Dominoes Click N' Play Set This set is awesome! It has 300-piece pieces, are 100% Real Wooden Domino Blocks and are great to use as a racing toy game or a building and stacking game!)

Colors & Shapes Bingo Game

Numbers Bingo Game
I recommend two sets of each so all the children who want to play can play!)

Return to Top

Quilts Theme Music & Movement Activities to Get Your Preschoolers Movin' and Groovin'!

Musical Squares

This is like musical chairs except!

In advance make 2 squares from each color of construction paper that you have.

Tape 1 of each color to a chair.

Hand the others out to the children.

Play music.  When the music stops, they all need to find a chair that has their colored square on it and sit on the chair.

Switch the colors up and play again!

Return to Top

Quilts Theme Activities for Your Sand and Water Table!

Quilting Textures

Fill your sensory table with squares of fabrics that have different textures such as:  burlap, felt, batting, polyfill pieces, sandpaper squares, satin, cotton, etc.

Floating Quilt Theme Squares

This is like a sink or float activity.

Provide different types of squares such as:  wood blocks, construction paper, aluminum foil, fabric, tan-grams, (anything that is square shaped!).

Do the items sink or float?

Return to Top

Quilts Theme Science Activities--
For Your Preschool Scientists in Training!

Patchwork Magnetic Boards

Materials needed:  Paper, black marker, laminator or wide, clear packing tape or contact paper; circle magnets and magnet wands.

In advance, draw different shapes on each piece of paper (8 X 11 construction paper works great!).  

Within the shapes, draw circles the size of the circle magnets you have.

Laminate the papers.

Give the children the circle magnets and magnet wands.  They place the magnets on the circles and then remove them with the magnet wands.

EXTENSION:  In small groups, encourage them to only put magnets in the rectangles, or the squares, or the triangles that are on that page.

Return to Top

Writing Activity Ideas for Your Quilts Theme!

Quilts Theme Shape Tracing

Having control over the muscles in your hands is a pre-writing skill. Providing activities to help children develop these muscles is essential.

Provide laminated papers that have shapes on them.  Provide low-odor dry erase markers and washcloths.

The children can use these over and over to practice!

The Letter Q

Q, or any rounded letter, is a difficult letter to make.  Block letters come more easily to preschoolers.

Make a bunch of Q papers and laminate and provide low-odor dry erase markers as in the above activity!

Do A Dot

Not only are using bingo type daubers fun, but they are a great way to teach the children about the pressure they apply with their hand muscles...too much pressure and the ink will pool or puddle, not enough and they won't make a circle.

If a child is continually pressing and watching the ink/paint come out, they are learning about pressure!  Talk to him/her about what is happening and why, rather than saying "Don't do that, you're making a mess."  

You are a preschool teacher and as such, you know.......learning IS oftentimes messy!  

Let the children use them to make their own patchwork designs.

When done, place them together on the wall as a quilt (let them dry first or you'll have stained walls!).

Return to Top

Miscellaneous Activities for Your Quilts Theme!

Borrow Quilts

Ask parents to send in clean quilts from home to display around the room for the week.

Memory Quilt

Send home a large square of fabric (have a basket with many choices in them for the parent and child to choose from).

The families work together to draw, paint or glue onto the fabric things that remind them of family:  pictures, musical notes if they like to sing, bicycles if they like to ride, sand if they like to go to the beach, etc.

At the end of the week, have them return them.

Glue each one onto cardboard and attach the cardboard onto posterboard, printing the child's name under each one.

You could use this for "show and tell" each day, having a few children come up and describe their square to their friends.

Hang it up for a few weeks for all to enjoy.  Send home the squares with the children when done.

Quilting Group

Many churches or senior centers have quilting groups that get together weekly, biweekly or monthly.

Ask and call around.

Ask if a few ladies will come and show their quilts to your little ones and talk about them!  Perhaps they might even read  story to the children!

Donation Quilt Theme Bulletin Board

On a bulletin board, attach different colored squares of sticky notes on it to look like a patchwork quilt.

On each square, list an item that you need for your classroom (paper, glue sticks, scissors, etc.).

The families take a square and bring in the item.

VARIATION:  If you are doing a service project, use the squares to list the needs of the agency you are helping.

Some service projects might be Food Shelters, Humane Societies, Coat/Mitten drives, etc.

PJ and Hot Cocoa and a Movie Day

Well of course!  How could you NOT with this theme!  ;)

Return to Top

Go to the Friendship Theme Page for ideas to combine with this Quilts Theme! Go to the Pajamas Theme Page for ideas to combine with this theme!

---

Go to MAIN THEMES Page for more theme ideas!

---

Go to Preschool Plan It's Home Page

---